Street-flusher



E. D. PERRY.

STREET FLUSHER.

APPLlcATxoN FILED 05u21. 1916* Pezzy NL 72 i/@ E. D.. PERRY.

STR-EET FLUSHER.

APPLlcATloN man nac. 2|, 191.6.

E. D. PERRY.

STREET FLUSHER. APPLICATION FILED DEC2I, 1916.

Patented Dec. 2s, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET v3Q UNITED STATES PATENT orifice.

EARL D. PERRY, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN CARsPnrNKLnR co., or WORCESTER, Mas cnusnfrms.

SACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION 0F MASSA- STREET-FLUSHER.

-Applicaton filed December 21, 1916.

To all whom z'zmay concern:

Be it known that l, EARL D. PERRY, a citizen of the United States,residing at vWorcester, in the county of lVorcester and State ofMassachusetts, have invented new and useful Street-Flushers, of whichthe following is a specication.

This invention relates to a vehicle flushing device. The principles ofthe invention are capable of use in connection with automobile andhorse-drawn tank vehicles, but the invention is particularly adapted foruse on vehicles adapted to run on car tracks and carrying a tank forstreet flushing purposes.

The principal objects of the invention are to provide means whereby atank car running on tracks will have a wide range of operation so thatit can be used eectively to Hush either a narrow or a wide streetwithout danger of unduly injuring the street -surface or sending a largevolume of water up against the gutter in case of narrow streets; toprovide means whereby one or a plurality of flushing nozzles can beemployed at the same time according to the width of the street; andparticularly to provide means whereby a flushing or scouring nozzle thatis in use whenever the' device is used at all for flushing purposes isassisted by one or more additional flushing nozzles that not only scourthe surface of the street at a distance laterally from the first nozzle,but are arranged so that theywill have the aftereffect of taking up thewash from the first nozzle and carrying it away toward the side of thestreet, the last nozzleV of the series taking the wash from all the restand depositing it in the gutter.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings in which- Figure lis a side elevationofa tank car' constructed in accordance with thisinvention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the: same on the horizontal line- 2-2' ofFig. 1, showT ing tlie`part`s under thetank in plan;

Fig; 3' isa plan on enlarged scale of'one of the-flushing nozzlesshowing' a second position in dotted lines.;

Fig. 4c is a sectional view of the same onl th'efli-ne 4--4 of Fig. 8,showing the nozzle Specification of Letters Patent.-

Patented Dec. 28, 1920.

Serial No. 138,153.

in front elevation and in its operative position, and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5 5 of F 1g. 3, illustrating theholding latch in rear elevation.

It is a well-known fact that the forcing under pressure of a sheet ofwater on a street surface nearly parallel to its plane is an efficientway 'of scouring such a surface and removing the water and dirt. Such anarrangement is particularly adapted for horse-drawn or motor tankvehicles for the reason that they can move as near the sidewalk as maybe desired, according to their construction, but when the same principleis applied to the car tank vehicle, which is restricted in its motionbecause it runs on car tracks, some difculties are encountered.

In the first place where a wide street is to be cleaned it is necessaryto use high pressure and direct the nozzles at a different angle fromthe car from that ordinarily employed on narrow streets if highestetliciency is to be obtained. In order to do this it would be desirableto have a different nozzle for each width of street because a singlenozzle is depended upon both to scour the street surface and wash awaythe debris into the gutter under the same impulse. Different degrees ofpressure would also be desirable in this casevbecause the nozzles wouldhave to carry the water farther in the'case of a wide street than in thecase of a. narrow one. v

This invention is designed to utilize the car type of tank vehicle forthe flushing of street surfaces in a practical and eflicient manner, andI have discovered that this can be done by the use of nozzles of theflat variety located so as to direct their sheets of water atcomparatively obtuse angles to the street surface, by providing a seriesof them at different distances from the car or car tracks. Those fartheraway can be arranged to perform the scouring action as is the case withthose nearer the car, but they also are so located with respect to thelatter'that they will take their wash and carry the water and dirtfarther from the car track, and the last one'of the series will deposititin the.

essary with this type of lusher and still leave the angle high enough sothat the cleaning action is comparatively eiiicient under comparativelylow pressure, if desired.

Referring now to the drawings, the invention is shown as applied to atank car 9 running on street railway tracks and having the usual watertank 10 provided with an outlet 11 which in this case is shown asleading through two mains 12 to a pair of pivoted sprinkler arms 13.These sprinkler arms are mounted to turn on pivots 14, as is wellunderstood in this art. ln the form shown herein two sprinkler pipes areillustrated, although that is not necessary as far as this invention isconcerned. Connected with one of the mains 12 is a pump 15 operated by amotor 16 suitably supported below the tank for the purpose of deliveringwater from the tank underl pressure to a tlusher main 17, shown asextending both forward and back.

Tn the form shown in the drawings this main is connected by a pivotjoint 18 with a pipe 19 which is adapted to swing about the pivot andreceive water under pressure from the main. This is also provided with asimilar joint 20 for delivering water to a and held by the pivoted latch41, as shown on the upper side of Fig. 2 and also in Fig. 1, the nozzle21 is moved into a position nearly parallel with it and with thc sideot' the car, so that it will not project out and ta-ke'up unnecessaryroom. llhen the arm l3-swings outwardly it brings the nozzle 21 to aposition more and more nearly normal to the side of the car, the fartherthe pipe swings. Consequently by swinging the spray,

pipe the necessary distance by means of ai handle 24 the operator hasfull control of the position and direction oit the flushing nozzle 21.

The discharge of the water from the pipe 17 to the pipe 19 is controlledby a valve 25. The stem of this valve is provided with an arm which isconnected by a link 26 with a lever 27 by which the valve is opened andclosed. The two spray pipes 13 are shown as independently controlled bytwo valves 28 and two levers 29 pivoted on an arm 31, as is usual. Y

The pressure mains 17 are shown as extending in both directions from thecenter ofthe car so as to supply a duplicate arrangement on the otherend and the other side of the car with water under pressure, and theyare also connected with a plurality of other pipes 30 having nozzles21a, 2lb, 21C and the like also for iiushing purposes. Each one of theseis separately controlled by a valve like the valve 25 having the samekind or' connections, a series of handles 27", 27h, and 27c being shownfor controlling these valves.

Another handle 27d of a similar character is shown as controlling` avalve 32 connected with one of these pipes 30. This pipe is providedwith a pivot joint 33 conducting water to a pipe arm 3l swinging on thecenter thereof, and'provided with a flushing nozzle It is to be observedwith reference to Fig. 1 particularly, that this pivot joint 33 is notmounted in exactly vertical position so that the pipe arm 34 dependsdown from it slightly. The reason for this construction is to cause thearm to swing back by gravity into the position shown in Fig' 3, that is,it is folded to inoperative position whenever it is not to be in use.Gravity is depended upon for this purpose, and the pressure of the waterintroduced into the pipe is depended upon for swinging it out to itsoperative position, a chain 36 being emloyed for limiting its outwardmotion.

On the car is located a flexible springpressed latch 37 having aprojection 38 extending inward on which the motor-man can step to swingthe latch up in opposition to the spring 39. This latch is adapted toengage in a notch in the convex end of a strap 40 carried by the arm 34.This automatically latches the same and holds it in position untilreleased by pressing in the projection 33. lf then the pressure isintroduced it has the effect of swinging the arm out to the positionshown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, while gravity will bring it back assoon as pressure is shut off. In this way the motor-man has immediatecontrol of this nozzle without having to shift it back and forthmanually. lt is not usually intended to operate it for flushing purposesexcept when it is in its extended position, as shown in Fig. 2, althoughthe nozzle 21 can be Aoperated for flushing purposes at variousdistances from the car by .reducing thev pressure.

It will be observed that there is a relationship between the severalnozzles 21a, 21",

and 21. The nozzle 21"L is directed inwardly from the left side of thecar to flush the street surface under the car and between the tracks andto `wash the material out over the right-hand track. The nozzle 21b islocated in such position as to flush or scour the surface of the streetover the righthand track and for a narrow space to the right-hand sideof it, and it is also located slightlyba-ck of the nozzle 21a so thatthe solid particles washed. up b y the latter and the water left from-it are deposited in front of the sheet of water as it strikes thepavement from vthe nozzle 2lb. The nozzle 35 when it -comes linto`operative position is also -designed'to direct its sheet Iof w-ater soas to strike the street back lof lthe position in which lthe materialsleft by lthe -nozzle 2lb are owingso that while they vare in motion itwill take them up and increase their velocity but ldirect them alsotoward the side of the street. This position of the parts vis indicatedin Fig. 2, and it will be observed that if a narrow street is beingoperated upon these three nozzles will be sufficient. If, however, it isdesired to operate on a wide street the nozzle 21 is brought intoposition as indicated, and there the same process above described isrepeated. The sheet of water strikes the ground at the rear of theposition at which the sheet from the nozzle 35 strikes it and picks thesame up and carries it along with it to the gutter. I find a 'convenientangle at which to dispose these several nozzles from the horizontal tobe from twenty-one to twenty-six degrees, but I do not wish to limitmyself to any particular angle.

One important point of this invention lies in the relative arrangementof the nozzles to each other so that each one farther from the center ofthe street is at the rear of the next one, and is so directed as to pickup the water and dirt being carried along by it and assist them to movefarther along toward the gutter.

It is to be remembered that during flushing the car is moving forwardand it can move at a very rapid rate and still do very eiiicient workwith this arrangement, thus providing an additional advantage over themotor or horse-drawn vehicles in use. The speed of the car itself istaken advantage of to assist in forcing the various streams of waterforwardly while the nozzles are directed outwardly in such a way as tofurther force them to the side and finally into the gutter. In this wayno deposit is left along the street, and yet the device is flexibleenough so that it can be used for narrow and wide streets at pleasure,and no adjustment of the nozzles to change the an- `gle at which thestreams strike the surface of the street is necessary. In fact, all the,nozzles are preferably permanently fixed so that the angle cannot bechanged.

The nozzles 21,21", and 35 are so arranged preferably that theright-hand edge of each is slightly lower than the left-hand edge,giving a slight tilt to the sheet of water deposited upon the streetsurface.

It is understood of course that only one end of the car has beendescribed, the other end being arranged in the same way so that whentraveling in the opposite direction the same conditions can be obtained,and a single ear ltraveling along a single or double track will beadapted to flush the entire surythe curb on .the sidewalk.

It will be seen, therefore, that the auxiliary nozzles .35 and l2l havetwo functions; namely, .to scour the surface of the street and to pic-kup a flowing body of water and dirt previously set in motion and carrythe same outwardly toward the gutter. As a matter of fact, the latterfunction is especially important because in manystreets the scouringaction ought to be stronger and more efficient near the car tracks wherethere is often a pavement of paving stones while the rest of the streetis of dirt or smooth pavement.

Although I have illustrated and described only a single form of theinVention'I am aware of the fact that modifica-tions can be made thereinby any person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of theinvention as expressed in the claims. Therefore I do not wish to belimited to all the details of construction herein shown and described,but what I do claim is 1. In a flushing machine, the combination with avehicle, of a front nozzle located at the side of the vehicle anddischarging forwardly, outwardly and downwardly, and a plurality ofadditional nozzles all directed downwardly, outwardly and forwardly andeach one being located at the rear and to the right-hand side of thefirst one, the second nozzle being mounted to swing on an axis at theside of the vehicle and being adapted 105 to be forced out intooperative position by the force of the water passing through it, thethird nozzle being mounted to swing outwardly from the side of thevehicle and having manual means for operating it.

2. In a flushing machine, the combination with means for supplying waterunder pressure, of a flushing nozzle connected therewith and mounted toswing freely about an axis located slightly inclined, whereby the 115nozzle will swing in one direction by the force of gravity and willswing in the other direction when water is admitted to it underpressure. f

3. In a ushing machine, the combination 120 of a supply pipe forsupplying water under pressure, a pipe arm, a pivot ljoint forconnecting the pipe arm with the supply pipe and supporting the pipe armtherefrom, said pivot joint being mounted at a slight inclina- 125 tionfrom the vertical, whereby the pipe arm will be adapted to swing intoone position by the force of gravity, and a nozzle on said pipe arm.

4. In a flushing machine, the combination 130 of a supply pipe, and apipe arm pivoted thereto on an inclined axis, said pipe arm having aflushing nozzle at the end thereof, a Stop located in position to holdthe pipe arm in one eXtreme position, said pipe arm being adapted toswing out from that position on account of the force of Water passingthrough it, and means for limiting the outer position thereof.

5. In a flushing machine, the combination of a supply pipe and a pipearm pivoted thereto and having a flushing nozzle thereon, of a springlatch for holding the pipe arm in its retracted position, `said springlatch being adapted to be drawn back to release the arm, whereby uponthe forcing of Water through it it will swing outwardly, said armbeingmounted at an inclination so that when the water is turned olf itwill swing back to its folded position to be engag-ed by the latch.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto aixed my signature.

, EARL D.' PERRY.

